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Sack of Amorium

Coordinates: 39°01′14″N 31°17′21″E / 39.020439°N 31.289145°E / 39.020439; 31.289145
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Sack of Amorium
Part of the Byzantine–Arab Wars
Datemid-August 838
Location
Amorium
Result City taken by the Abbasids
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire Abbasid Caliphate
Commanders and leaders
Emperor Theophilos
Aetios		 Caliph al-Mu'tasim
Afshin
Ashinas
Strength
unknown 80,000[1]
Casualties and losses
30,000–70,000 dead[2] unknown

The Sack of Amorium by the Abbasids in mid-August 838 represents one of the major events in the long history of the Byzantine–Arab Wars. The exceptionally large Abbasid army was led by the Caliph al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842), who was eager to avenge the almost unopposed expedition launched by the Byzantine emperor Theophilos (r. 829–842) into the Caliphate's borderlands the previous year. The Abbasids penetrated deep into Byzantine Asia Minor, defeating the emperor at Anzen, sacking Ancyra and finally reaching Amorium—at the time one of Byzantium's largest cities and the birthplace of its ruling Amorian dynasty. The city fell after a short siege, probably by treason, and a large part of its inhabitants were slaughtered, with the remainder driven off as slaves. A number of the most prominent officials were taken to Samarra and executed, becoming known as the 42 Martyrs of Amorium. The brutal sack was not only a major military disaster but also a traumatic event for the Byzantines, reverberating in later literature, as well as a heavy personal blow for Theophilos. The sack did not ultimately alter the balance of power, which was slowly shifting in Byzantium's favour, but it thoroughly discredited Iconoclasm, which relied heavily on military success for its legitimization, leading to its abandonment shortly after Theophilos' death in 842.

Background

Follis of a new type, minted in large quantities in celebration of Theophilos' victories against the Arabs from ca. 835 on. On the obverse he is represented in triumphal attire, wearing the toupha, and on the reverse the traditional acclamation "Theophilos Augustus, you conquer".[3]

In 829, when the young emperor Theophilos ascended the Byzantine throne, the Byzantine–Arab Wars had gone on and off for almost two centuries. An ambitious man and a convinced iconoclast, Theophilos sought to bolster his regime and support his religious policies by military success against the Abbasid Caliphate. In 833, the emperor reinstated official persecution of the iconophiles, and subsequent events seemed to vindicate him. The Abbasids were largely preoccupied with the suppression of the Khurramite rebellion of Babak Khorramdin, allowing Theophilos to achieve a series of modest victories, as well as bolster his forces with some 14,000 Khurramite refugees under Nasr, who was baptized a Christian and took the name Theophobos.[4] His successes in these years were not spectacular, but, coming after two decades of defeats and civil war under iconophile emperors, they nevertheless allowed Theophilos to claim God's favour and to associate himself with the memory of the iconoclast emperor Constantine V (r. 741–775) and his victories. In this spirit he issued a new follis, minted in huge numbers, portraying him in the traditional Roman manner as a victorious emperor.[3]

In 837, Theophilos decided (with the urging of Babak) to take advantage of the Caliphate's preoccupation with the suppression of the Khurramite revolt and lead a major campaign against the frontier emirates. He assembled a huge army, some 70,000 men with further 30,000 servants, and invaded Arab territory around the upper Euphrates. The Byzantines took the towns of Sozopetra and Arsamosata, ravaged and plundered the countryside, extracted ransom from several cities in exchange for not attacking them, and defeated a number of smaller Arab forces.[5] While Theophilos returned home in triumph, the Abbasid caliph Mu'tasim was outraged. Not only had the Byzantines marched into his lands virtually unopposed, in open collusion with the Khurramite rebels; during the sack of Sozopetra—which some sources claim as Mu'tasim's own birthplace[a]—all male prisoners were executed and the rest sold into slavery, while many women had been raped by some of Theophilos' Khurramites.[6][7]

A vast army was gathered at Tarsus, estimated by Warren Treadgold at some 80,000 men, leaving aside accompanying servants and camp followers, while Alexander Vasiliev reports the more traditional numbers of between 200,000 and 500,000 men in total.[1][8] Unlike earlier campaigns, which did not go far beyond attacking the forts of the frontier zone, this expedition was intended to penetrate deep into Asia Minor, with the cities of Ancyra and Amorium as its targets. Amorium in particular was the major prize, and the Caliph reportedly had the city's name written on the shields and banners of his soldiers. The capital of the powerful Anatolic theme, the city was strategically located at the western edge of the Anatolian plateau and, at the time, one of the largest cities in the Byzantine Empire. It was also the birthplace of Theophilos' father, Michael II the Amorian (r. 820–829), and perhaps of Theophilos himself.[7][9] Due to its strategic importance, the city had been a frequent target of Arab attacks in the 7th and 8th centuries.[10]

Opening stages of the campaign: Anzen and Ancyra

Map of Byzantine Asia Minor and the Byzantine-Arab frontier zone ca. 842

The Caliph divided his force in two: 30,000 men under the capable general Afshin were sent to join forces with the Emir Omar al-Aqta and invade the Armeniac theme, while the main army under the Caliph himself would invade Cappadocia through the Cilician Gates. A part of the Caliph's army was also detached as an advance guard, under the general Ashinas. The two forces would link up at Ancyra, before marching jointly on Amorium.[11][12] On the Byzantine side, Theophilos was early on aware of the Caliph's intentions, and set out from Constantinople in early June. His army included the men from the Anatolian and possibly also the European themes, the elite tagmata regiments, as well as the Khurramites. The Byzantines expected the Arab army to advance through the Cilician Gates and then to Ancyra, but it was also possible that the Arabs would march directly onto Amorium. While his generals advised to evacuate the city altogether, which would not only render the Arabs' campaign objective void but also keep the Byzantine army undivided, Theophilos preferred to reinforce the city's garrison, under the strategos of the Anatolics Aetios, with the tagmata of the Excubitors and the Vigla.[12][13]

With the rest of his army, Theophilos then marched to interpose himself between the Cilician Gates and Ancyra, camping on the south side of the river Halys. The two Arab armies crossed the border in late June, but Theophilos did not learn of Afshin's northern thrust until mid-July. He immediately left with most of his army to confront the smaller Arab force. The emperor met Afshin's army in battle near the village of Anzen at Dazimon on 22 July, where the Byzantine army broke and scattered, while Theophilos with his guard were encircled and barely managed to break through and escape.[14][15] Theophilos quickly began regrouping his forces and sent the general Theodore Krateros to Ancyra. Krateros however found the city completely deserted, and was ordered to reinforce the garrison of Amorium instead. Theophilos himself was soon forced to return to Constantinople, where rumours of his death at Anzen had led to plots to declare a new emperor. At the same time, the Khurramites, gathered around Sinope, revolted and declared their reluctant commander Theophobos emperor. Luckily for the Empire, Theophobos maintained a passive stance and made no move to confront Theophilos or join Mu'tasim.[15][16] The Caliph's vanguard under Ashinas reached Ancyra on 26 July, followed by the other two forces over the next days. After plundering the deserted city, the united Arab army turned south towards Amorium.[15][17]

Siege and fall of Amorium

The siege of Amorium, miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes

The Arabs arrived before Amorium and began their siege of the city on August 1. Theophilos, anxious to prevent the city's fall, left Constantinople for Dorylaion, and from there sent an embassy to Mu'tasim. His envoys, who arrived shortly before or during the first days of the siege, offered assurances that the atrocities at Sozopetra had been against the emperor's orders, and further promised to help rebuild the city and return all Muslim prisoners, as well as a payment of tribute. The Caliph however not only refused to parley, but detained the envoys in his camp, so that they could observe the siege.[18] Both besiegers and besieged had many siege engines, and as the city's walls were strong, for several days both sides confined themselves to exchanging missile fire. According to Byzantine accounts however, an Arab prisoner who had converted to Christianity defected back to the Caliph, and informed him about a place in the wall which had been badly damaged as a result of heavy rainfall and only hastily repaired. As a result, the Arabs concentrated most of their engines on this section, and soon managed to breach the wall.[17] The Byzantines defended the breach, but their position became hopeless, and Aetios decided to try and break through the besieging army during the night and link up with Theophilos. His messages to the emperor were intercepted however, and the plan had to be abandoned, while the Arabs intensified their attacks.[17]

After about two weeks of siege (the date is variously interpreted as 12, 13 or 15 August by modern writers), the Byzantine commander Boiditzes, who was in charge of the breach, decided to conduct direct negotiations with the Caliph on his own. He abandoned his post and went to the Abbasid camp, leaving orders for his men to stand down until his return. The Arabs took advantage of this, and broke into the city. Taken by surprise, the Byzantines' resistance was sporadic: some soldiers barricaded themselves in a monastery and were burned to death, while Aetios with his officers sought refuge in a tower before being forced to surrender.[19] The city was subjected to a brutal sack: the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes Continuatus mentions 70,000 dead, while the Arab al-Mas'udi records 30,000. The city was thoroughly plundered, with the spoils and the surviving population divided among the army, except for the city's military and civic leaders, who were reserved for the Caliph. After allowing Theophilos' envoys to return to him with the news of the sack, Mu'tasim burned the city to the ground, only the city walls surviving relatively intact.[20]

Aftermath

The embassy of the tourmarches Basil to al-Mu'tasim after the fall of Amorium, miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes

Immediately after the sack, news reached the Caliph of a rebellion headed by his nephew, al-Abbas ibn al-Ma'mun. Mu'tasim was therefore forced to cut short his campaign and return quickly to his realm, leaving the fortresses around Amorium as well as Theophilos and his army in Dorylaion intact. Taking the direct route from Amorium to the Cilician Gates, both the Caliph's army and its prisoners suffered many casualties in their forced march through the arid regions of central Anatolia. Many of the captives found the opportunity to escape, while some 6,000 were executed on Mu'tasim's orders.[21][22] Theophilos sent a second embassy to the Caliph, headed by the tourmarches Basil, offering to ransom the high-ranking prisoners for 20,000 pounds of gold and the release all his Arab captives. Mu'tasim however demanded in addition the surrender of Theophobos and the Domestic of the Schools, Manuel the Armenian (who, unbeknown to the Caliph, had died of wounds received at Anzen). The Byzantine ambassador refused to comply to this, and Mu'tasim is thought to have executed Aetios in retaliation. The other magnates and officers were, after years of captivity, urged to convert to Islam. When they refused, they were executed at Samarra in 845. They are celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Forty-two Martyrs of Amorium.[23]

Impact

The sack of Amorium was one of the most devastating events in living memory. Theophilos reportedly fell ill upon learning of the humiliating disaster, and his death three years later, while not yet thirty years old, was attributed by the Byzantine writers to his sorrow over the city's loss. The military impact in itself was limited: outside the garrison and population of Amorium itself, the Byzantine field army at Anzen had suffered few casualties, and the revolt of the Khurramite corps was suppressed without bloodshed the next year and its soldiers reintegrated into the Byzantine army. Ancyra was quickly rebuilt and reoccupied, as was Amorium itself, although the seat of the Anatolic theme was transferred to Polybotus, and it never recovered its former glory. The Abbasids too failed to follow up their success, and after Mu'tasim's death in 842, their state entered a prolonged period of decline.[24][25]

The most long-term effect of the fall of Amorium was religious. The defeats at Anzen and Amorium were to a large degree the result of circumstance, rather than incapability on behalf of the Byzantine military. Theophilos too displayed overconfidence in his willingness to divide his forces in the face of larger Arab numbers and his over-reliance on the Khurramites.[26] But nevertheless, a disaster of this magnitude, easily comparable with the greatest defeats of previous iconophile emperors like Nikephoros I, thoroughly undermined the notion that iconoclasm brought divine favour and assured military victory. In the words of Warren Treadgold, "the outcome did not exactly prove that Iconoclasm was wrong, [...] but it did rob the iconoclasts for all time of their most persuasive argument to the undecided, that Iconoclasm won battles". A little over a year after Theophilos' death, on 11 March 843, a synod restored the veneration of icons and iconoclasm was declared heretical.[27]

Notes

^ a: The claim that Sozopetra or Arsamosata was Mu'tasim's native city is found only in Byzantine sources. This claim is dismissed by some scholars as a later invention, namely as a parallel to Amorium, the likely birthplace of Theophilos, and perhaps even intended to lessen the impact of the blow that the latter's fall represented.[28][29]

References

  1. ^ a b Treadgold (1988), p. 297
  2. ^ Ivison (2007), p. 31; Treadgold (1988), p. 303
  3. ^ a b Treadgold (1988), pp. 283, 287–288; Whittow (1997), pp. 152–153
  4. ^ Treadgold (1988), pp. 272–285
  5. ^ Treadgold (1988), pp. 286, 292–294
  6. ^ Treadgold (1988), pp. 293–295
  7. ^ a b Kiapidou (2003), Chapter 1
  8. ^ Kiapidou (2003), Note 5
  9. ^ Kazhdan (1991), pp. 79, 1428, 2066; Treadgold (1988), p. 297; Whittow (1997), p. 153
  10. ^ Ivison (2007), p. 26; Kazhdan (1991), p.79
  11. ^ Treadgold (1988), pp. 297, 299
  12. ^ a b Kiapidou (2003), Chapter 2.1
  13. ^ Treadgold (1988), p. 298
  14. ^ Treadgold (1988), pp. 298–300; Whittow (1996), p. 153
  15. ^ a b c Kiapidou (2003), Chapter 2.2
  16. ^ Treadgold (1988), pp. 300–302
  17. ^ a b c Treadgold (1988), p. 302
  18. ^ Rekaya (1977), p. 64; Treadgold (1988), p. 302; Vasiliev (1968), p. 160
  19. ^ Rekaya (1977), p. 64; Treadgold (1988), pp. 302–303; Vasiliev (1968), p. 170
  20. ^ Ivison (2007), pp. 31, 53; Treadgold (1988), p. 303
  21. ^ Treadgold (1988), p. 303
  22. ^ Kiapidou (2003), Chapter 2.3
  23. ^ Kazhdan (1991), pp. 79, 800–801; Treadgold (1988), pp. 303–304
  24. ^ Kiapidou (2003), Chapter 3
  25. ^ Kazhdan (1991), pp. 79–80, 2068; Treadgold (1988), pp. 304, 313–314; Whittow (1996), p. 153
  26. ^ Treadgold (1988), pp. 304–305
  27. ^ Treadgold (1988), p. 305; Whittow (1996), pp. 153–154
  28. ^ Treadgold (1988), p. 440 n401
  29. ^ Kiapidou (2003), Note 1

Sources

  • Ivison, Eric A. (2007). "Amorium in the Byzantine Dark Ages (seventh to ninth centuries)". In Henning, Joachim (ed.). Post-Roman Towns, Trade and Settlement in Europe and Byzantium, Vol. 2: Byzantium, Pliska, and the Balkans. de Gruyter. pp. 25–59. ISBN 978-3-11-018358-0.
  • Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
  • Kiapidou, Eirini-Sofia (2003-04-28). "Campaign of the Arabs in Asia Minor, 838". Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  • Rekaya, M. (1977). "Mise au point sur Théophobe et l'alliance de Babek avec Théophile (833/834-839/840)". Byzantion (in French). 44: 43–67.
  • Treadgold, Warren T. (1988), The Byzantine Revival, 780–842, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, ISBN 978-0-8047-1462-2 {{citation}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
  • Vasiliev, Alexander (1968), Byzance et les arabes: Tome 1. La dynastie d'Amorium (820–867) (in French), Brussels{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Whittow, Mark (1996). The Making of Byzantium, 600–1025. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-20496-4.

39°01′14″N 31°17′21″E / 39.020439°N 31.289145°E / 39.020439; 31.289145

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